Hood, Pirates Rally Past FDU, 5-4, in Game Two

Sunday, April 8

South Orange, N.J.

TBD

Seton Hall University

11-12-1

Fairleigh Dickinson

7-16

Fairleigh Dickinson

Seton Hall

4/8/2018 7:07:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score HOME INFO BOX SCORE

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Sophomore Connor Hood (Shrewsbury, Pa.) drove in three of the Pirates five runs, including a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Seton Hall baseball team rallied for a 5-4 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson in game two of a doubleheader on Sunday.

Hood went 2-for-2 with a double, a sacrifice fly and three RBIs.

Seton Hall starter Andrew Politi (Long Valley, N.J.) allowed three runs over five innings, but struck out a career-high nine batters with no walks in a no decision.

The Pirates got on the scoreboard first, scoring two runs in the second inning, just as they did in game one of the doubleheader. With two outs, Tyler Shedler-McAvoy (Allendale, N.J.) reached on an infield single. Junior Sebastiano Santorelli (Tuckahoe, N.Y.) followed with a single to right field, which advanced Shedler-McAvoy to third base. After Casey Dana (Montgomery, N.Y.) walked to load the bases, Hood doubled into the left field corner to give The Hall a 2-0 lead.

In the top of the fourth inning, Fairleigh Dickinson struck for three runs off of Politi to take a 3-2 lead, but the Pirates wasted little time in bouncing back, tying the game at three in the bottom of the inning on the legs of Shedler-McAvoy. With one out, he walked. Shedler-McAvoy then stole second base, third base and came in to score on an RBI ground out by Santorelli.

FDU took a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth inning off Pirate reliever Noah Thompson (Frisco, Texas).

Turning Point:
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Pirate offense went back to work. Shedler-McAvoy was hit by a pitch, stole second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch. With one out, Dana tripled to left field to score Shedler-McAvoy with the tying run. Hood followed with a sacrifice fly, which plated Dana with the winning run.

Inside the Numbers:

Hood went 2-for-2 with a double, a sacrifice fly and three RBIs.
Politi allowed three runs over five innings with a career-high nine strikeouts and no walks in a no decision.
Shedler-McAvoy reached base three times, going 1-for-1 with a walk, a hit-by-pitch, three runs scored and three stolen bases.
Thompson picked up the victory in relief, allowing one run over two innings with three strikeouts and one walk.
Dana reached base three times, going 2-for-2 with a triple, a walk, a run scored and an RBI.
Seton Hall had six hits, while FDU had four. Seton Hall committed one error, while the Knights had none.
The Pirates left five on base, while the Knights left only two.
Fairleigh Dickinson's Joe Flack took the complete game loss. He allowed five runs over six innings pitched.

News & Notes:

Both games in today's doubleheader were only seven innings long.
The victory improves the Pirates to 11-12-1 on the season, while Fairleigh Dickinson falls to 7-16.
Seton Hall is now 49-10 all-time against Fairleigh Dickinson. The Pirates have now won 10 straight games in the series and 21 of the last 22 games.
Seton Hall head coach Rob Sheppard is approaching 400 career victories. Today's game two win is the 398th of his coaching career.
The doubleheader sweep is the first for the Pirates since sweeping Villanova on May 14, 2016.
Hood went 4-for-5 with a sacrifice fly, two doubles and five RBIs during the doubleheader.
Shedler-McAvoy stole four bases during the doubleheader and now is tied for the team lead with five on the season.

Next Up:
Seton Hall will return to action on Wednesday, April 11 when it makes the short trip to Princeton. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.